Immigration: Locking up families indefinitely

A detention center in Texas(AP)

Family separation apparently isn’t cruel enough, said Jonathan Blitzer in NewYorker.com. In one of its most “alarming” attempts yet “to whittle away the legal rights of immigrant children,” the Trump administration last week announced new rules that would allow the indefinite detention of entire migrant families. It’s a blatant attempt to circumvent the 1997 Flores Agreement, which requires that children be held in the “least restrictive conditions” possible for no more than 20 days before they have to be released to a relative or guardian. Trump’s proposed changes must be approved by a California-based federal judge who oversees Flores cases, and survive legal challenges, including a lawsuit filed this week by 20 blue states. The administration’s motives in nullifying Flores are clear, said Raul Reyes in CNN.com. Officials said that indefinitely detaining all the migrants who apply for asylum, including the kids, would deter other Central Americans from coming. “When all else fails,” in other words, “lock up children.”

Liberals are too “cynical” to admit that this rule helps children, said the Washington Examiner in an editorial. The Flores Agreement “essentially mandated family separation” by giving the government two bad options: Release children from border facilities while their parents remain or “let the entire family go and hope they show up for the hearing months down the line.” The new rule “keeps families together until they get their day in court,” while also putting an end to the “catch and release” policy that allows migrants to game the asylum system. Last year, liberals raged at Trump for separating families, said David Catron in Spectator.org. “Now they’re fulminating because he wants to keep them together.”

Holding kids hostage for months is no act of compassion, said Leah Hibel and Caitlin Patler in The New York Times. “Numerous studies have made it clear: No detention center is healthy and safe for children.” Violence and sexual assaults have occurred in these border facilities, and at least six detained children have died in the past year. Being held in detention camps can “stunt child cognitive, social, emotional, and language development,” and cause post-traumatic stress disorder and depression. Faced with all this harrowing research, “the government should be working to comply with Flores,” instead of using children as pawns to punish their parents. ■